The EPA is a federal government agency whose basic mission is to protect the environment and human health. The organization has been working towards forming a better environment that would help Americans lead a healthier life. The EPA was founded in the year 1970, by efforts from the Congress and the White House. The Nixon Administration played a pivotal role in developing and giving birth to the EPA. This was following growing concerns from the public of the unhealthy destruction of the environment. People began to realize in the 1970’s that the environment was abused as quality of water, soil and air was becoming poorer with time.
People were not aware of the methods by which the environment could be protected. The formation of the EPA help to launch a coordinated efforts to attack the several pollutants and their sources which was degrading the quality of the environment and being negative to human health. The question of having a US environment organization was raised in the US Congress in July, 1970, and finally the EPA was inaugurated in December 2, 1970, in Washington DC. The EPA was conducting several functions as an agency including research, monitoring, setting standards and regulations, and creating environmental activities.
The basic aim of the EPA was to help protect the human health by shielding the environment. The EPA was involved in protecting various components of the environment including air, water, soil, etc. During the last four decades, the EPA worked in providing a better environment that would help safeguard the health and the wellbeing of the US citizens. In the 1970’s, the EPA developed the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act that would help reduce the levels of pollutants in the Water and Air respectively.
The Supreme Court also said that the EPA was the authority to help frame rules and regulations regarding environmental protection. In the 1980’s, the EPA concentrated on protecting abandoned and old sites from abuse. It laid down the Superfund Act and also ran several waste management programs. In this way the EPA helped to reduce the risk of accidents and exposure to pollutants to the people. In the 1980’s, the EPA developed and implemented several amendments to the water pollution and the air statutes, which helped the government to tackle air and water pollution better.
Several modern techniques were utilized in order to protect the environment. In the year 2000, as terrorist attacks and the quality of air, water and other aspects degraded severely, the EPA intensified its efforts in protecting the environment. The organization now aims at reducing the pollution from vehicles; reduce noise levels, lower mercury and other heavy metal levels, etc, so that the health of the people and the quality of the environment is maintained. Services The EPA serves the American people by creating a healthier environment so as to improve human health and well-being.
The organization would be working with various state governments, private organizations, NGO’s, federal organizations, communities, tribes, volunteer organization, academic institutions, etc, in fulfilling their mission of setting up a better environment and solving the environmental problems, so as to improve health and wellbeing of humans. The organization has several duties including:- 1. Developing certain rules and regulations that are passed by the Congress and ensuring that these rules and regulations are implemented. 2. Ensuring that research is conducted in setting national standards in the environmental protection programs
3. Monitoring and ensuring that compliance is being exercised in the various environmental programs 4. Imposing sanctions and following other measures so that the states and the tribes can reach certain standards in environmental quality. 5. Providing grants for several state environmental programs and educational institutional projects 6. Ensuring that various educational institutions conduct high-quality research and award fellowships with relation to environmental protection 7. Ensuring that the public has greater amount of awareness, knowledge and competence to make informed decisions regarding the quality of the environment
8. Financing the local government and small and medium enterprises in environmental projects and services 9. Providing financial assistance to various organizations in providing clean air, clean water and recycling wastes 10. Setting up laboratories throughout the nation which are able to understand the various environmental problems and to integrate them with the functioning of various other organizations (including the private sector, public sector, academic organizations, etc). 11. Addressing the emergent environmental problems 12. Organizing advanced studies with universities and schools on environmental education
Financial support To study the financing of the organization a lot of efforts are required. The organizations would be spending on various resources needed for several programs and involving various collaborations. Some of the resources that the EPA would be spending on include improving the security, workforce, infrastructure, logistics, operating programs, support systems, etc. The organization would be spending its resources in five areas namely:- 1. Ensuring air cleanliness and managing the global climate change 2. Clean water 3. Preservation and restoration of land
4. Protecting and upgrading the health of human communities and the ecosystem 5. Maintain and developing certain standards in environmental quality The funds for the organization come from various sources. These include:- 1. Balances brought forward 2. Loans receivables 3. Federal government 4. State Government 5. Borrowing authority 6. Private organizations 7. Community organizations 8. As duties paid and fines 9. Trust funds 10. Miscellaneous amounts paid 11. Market securities 12. Interests 13. NGO’s 14. Voluntary organizations Personal Experience
The EPA is doing a good job in protecting the health and wellbeing of the environment. It has helped to provide cleaner air and water and has also ensured better management of waste land and other wastes. The organization is helping to develop new laws that would help protect the environment in the coming times. With time, the organization has been able to protect the environment to a greater extent. It is important to note that there is a grave threat to the environment in the future, and only through the efforts of the EPA, has the quality of the environment stood the test of time.
Often the guidelines created by the EPA are considered to be the Golden Standards, and several other environment authority organizations throughout the world are following those developed by the EPA. Besides, the EPA has created greater amount of awareness in the general public. People are now becoming more and more aware of the importance of environmental protection. Several educational programs are initiated by the EPA and are helping to advance research and technology in environmental science. My personal question to the EPA The EPA has been instrumental in creating a better quality of the environment; right from the 1970’s to date.
The organization is about 30 years old. The organization has protected the health and wellbeing of the American population by ensuring a better environment. It has launched several educational and research programs. It is aiming towards cleaner air, cleaner and safe water, better management of waste and using the land in an environmentally-friendly manner. The EPA is working in collaboration with several other organizations including communities, NGO’s, federal, state and local governments, statutory bodies, etc, in providing a better environment.
The EPA is working towards developing, framing, implementing and enforcing rules and regulations for better control of the environment. However, I do feel that at the rate of population growth and industrial development, safeguarding and protecting the environment is going to be a very serious challenge. Several issues including global warming, rise in sea levels, depletion of the ozone layer, deforestation, species depletion, weather and climatic changes, etc, seem to go out of control.
Today the environment hangs in looms and is facing severe threat to extinction. This may be a very difficult challenge for the EPA, and I do feel that it is going to take a lot of planning, resource allocation, development of strict rules and regulations, etc, in order to protect the environment in the future. Can the EPA develop an effective strategy to protect the environment in the future?
References: US Environmental Protection Agency (2008). About EPA, Retrieved on July 27, 2008, from EPA Web site: http://www. epa. gov/epahome/aboutepa. htm